The original Great Wall dates back to seventh century China, but the section in Zhangjiakou was rebuilt more than 500 years ago in 1484 during the Ming Dynasty.

The original Great Wall started construction in 220 BC, not 7th Century China.Still one of the only man made objects visible from space, the wall is made of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials.

sno man:Well just cause YOU can't see it from space...or"one of the" as in 'not the only', but it's still a shortish list in daylight.oris it the materials list you have issue with?

The cliche is that the Great Wal is the only thing visible from space, however, that's not true in two ways:

1) With the naked eye, you can't see the Great Wall. The great wall is really really thin. I've been on it. It's like 15 feet wide at the most. No way a naked human eye can pick up something 10 feet wide from space.

2) If we're talking about aided vision (i.e. telescopes, imaging devices), then almost anything can be seen from space - for example, witness Google Earth.

RexTalionis:rynthetyn: RexTalionis: rynthetyn: Well, if this is going to be the thread where we post our pictures of the Great Wall, then here are some from Badaling.

I went in the dead of winter. It was like 10 degrees F when I took my picture. The hillside was brown.

It was about 95 F and just totally miserable when I was there. I don't know which is worse, the heat or the cold.

I don't mind the cold - I spent that winter wearing nothing but jeans, a sweater and my black trenchcoat.

I think I would have preferred the cold, though my Great Wall experience is colored by the fact that I came down with a cold promptly upon arriving in China so my asthma was going crazy trying to climb the thing.

rynthetyn:RexTalionis: rynthetyn: RexTalionis: rynthetyn: Well, if this is going to be the thread where we post our pictures of the Great Wall, then here are some from Badaling.

I went in the dead of winter. It was like 10 degrees F when I took my picture. The hillside was brown.

It was about 95 F and just totally miserable when I was there. I don't know which is worse, the heat or the cold.

I don't mind the cold - I spent that winter wearing nothing but jeans, a sweater and my black trenchcoat.

I think I would have preferred the cold, though my Great Wall experience is colored by the fact that I came down with a cold promptly upon arriving in China so my asthma was going crazy trying to climb the thing.

Oh, yeah, that's no good. The climb is like a cardiovascular nightmare.

RexTalionis:rynthetyn: RexTalionis: rynthetyn: RexTalionis: rynthetyn: Well, if this is going to be the thread where we post our pictures of the Great Wall, then here are some from Badaling.

I went in the dead of winter. It was like 10 degrees F when I took my picture. The hillside was brown.

It was about 95 F and just totally miserable when I was there. I don't know which is worse, the heat or the cold.

I don't mind the cold - I spent that winter wearing nothing but jeans, a sweater and my black trenchcoat.

I think I would have preferred the cold, though my Great Wall experience is colored by the fact that I came down with a cold promptly upon arriving in China so my asthma was going crazy trying to climb the thing.

Oh, yeah, that's no good. The climb is like a cardiovascular nightmare.

If I go back to China and go to the Great Wall, I'm doing months of stadium stair running first. And some of the non-touristy parts of the Wall that you pass on the way to Badaling are so much steeper.

rynthetyn:If I go back to China and go to the Great Wall, I'm doing months of stadium stair running first. And some of the non-touristy parts of the Wall that you pass on the way to Badaling are so much steeper.

/saw a woman climbing in stilettos

If you're willing to pay a fee, I'm sure you can hire someone to carry you to the top on a palanquin. At Paishan, I saw an old man get carried to the top by two guys with a palanquin.

RexTalionis:rynthetyn: If I go back to China and go to the Great Wall, I'm doing months of stadium stair running first. And some of the non-touristy parts of the Wall that you pass on the way to Badaling are so much steeper.

/saw a woman climbing in stilettos

If you're willing to pay a fee, I'm sure you can hire someone to carry you to the top on a palanquin. At Paishan, I saw an old man get carried to the top by two guys with a palanquin.

Hmm, that might be nice, that and helicopter are about the only methods of transport that I've never done.

rynthetyn:RexTalionis: rynthetyn: If I go back to China and go to the Great Wall, I'm doing months of stadium stair running first. And some of the non-touristy parts of the Wall that you pass on the way to Badaling are so much steeper.

/saw a woman climbing in stilettos

If you're willing to pay a fee, I'm sure you can hire someone to carry you to the top on a palanquin. At Paishan, I saw an old man get carried to the top by two guys with a palanquin.

Hmm, that might be nice, that and helicopter are about the only methods of transport that I've never done.

RexTalionis:rynthetyn: RexTalionis: rynthetyn: If I go back to China and go to the Great Wall, I'm doing months of stadium stair running first. And some of the non-touristy parts of the Wall that you pass on the way to Badaling are so much steeper.

/saw a woman climbing in stilettos

If you're willing to pay a fee, I'm sure you can hire someone to carry you to the top on a palanquin. At Paishan, I saw an old man get carried to the top by two guys with a palanquin.

Hmm, that might be nice, that and helicopter are about the only methods of transport that I've never done.

sno man:not the pic I was looking for but the description covers my point...

"The Great Wall of China, as seen from the space shuttle. Contrary to popular belief, an unaided viewer cannot see it from the moon. One shuttle astronaut said, "We can see things as small as airport runways, [but] the Great Wall is almost invisible from only 180*miles up." An Apollo astronaut said no human structures were visible at a distance of a few thousand miles. And - most tellingly - Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei couldn't see it at all."

Still one of the only man made objects visible from space,Still one of the only man made objects visible from space,Still one of the only man made objects visible from space,Still one of the only man made objects visible from space,Still one of the only man made objects visible from space,

sno man:not the pic I was looking for but the description covers my point...

"The Great Wall of China, as seen from the space shuttle. Contrary to popular belief, an unaided viewer cannot see it from the moon. One shuttle astronaut said, "We can see things as small as airport runways, [but] the Great Wall is almost invisible from only 180*miles up." An Apollo astronaut said no human structures were visible at a distance of a few thousand miles. And - most tellingly - Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei couldn't see it at all."

* the ballbark of the height of a typical shuttle flight.

Ballpark? Heresy. Here in 'Merica we measure things in football fields and Rhode Islands

rynthetyn:If I go back to China and go to the Great Wall, I'm doing months of stadium stair running first. And some of the non-touristy parts of the Wall that you pass on the way to Badaling are so much steeper.

Visited the Great Wall as a side excursion on a school sports trip. Our teacher/chaperon decided Badaling was too touristy and we should go see something a bit more 'pristine.'

The Good: Very few tourists, virtually no people at all. Nobody trying to sell you crap. Beautiful, steep section of the wall.The Bad: Two of the few people there were there came up to us -- a dozen high school kids, half of whom were Caucasian-as-all-hell, and a couple adults -- and tried to shake us down for money. There were threats implied and nobody in the area to witness a roughing-up, so we made a pretty terrifying retreat.

Smeggy Smurf:sno man: not the pic I was looking for but the description covers my point...

"The Great Wall of China, as seen from the space shuttle. Contrary to popular belief, an unaided viewer cannot see it from the moon. One shuttle astronaut said, "We can see things as small as airport runways, [but] the Great Wall is almost invisible from only 180*miles up." An Apollo astronaut said no human structures were visible at a distance of a few thousand miles. And - most tellingly - Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei couldn't see it at all."

* the ballbark of the height of a typical shuttle flight.

Ballpark? Heresy. Here in 'Merica we measure things in football fields and Rhode Islands